2023 Women’s World Cup: Group H Preview

The final group at the 2023 Women’s World Cup has a team that’s been rebuilt to win everything, while the other teams can pose challenges as well. Germany, Morocco, Colombia, and South Korea will battle it out in Group H, and they will have some intriguing matchups between them. This group will be physical, but they will bring some terrific technical skill as well, making this hard to pick how it will shape up.

Schedule (based on Eastern Time kickoffs)

Monday, July 24th

Germany vs. Morocco

Colombia vs. South Korea

Sunday, July 30th

South Korea vs. Morocco

Germany vs. Colombia

Thursday, August 3rd

South Korea vs. Germany

Morocco vs. Colombia

Germany

Germany is back, they’re retooled, and they’re loaded. Alexandra Popp is the captain and she’s capable of scoring from anywhere at any time, but this team is also built to play any style of soccer. Want beautiful soccer, brutal soccer, technical ability, or free flowing play? Germany’s versatile in that regard, and that’s why they’re one of the best teams in the world and one of the top contenders to win it all.

FIFA Ranking: 2

Recent Record: Germany is 2W-2L-1D in 2023. They have wins this year against the Netherlands and Vietnam.

Odds of Winning Group: Favorite

One to Watch: Lena Oberdorf is one of the world’s bright young stars. If she gets past you on the break, look out. She’s able to create goals and she can finish them as well.

Morocco

Morocco’s in their first Women’s World Cup, and they may be the team that is the most unknown at this tournament. They advanced to the World Cup through the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, where they had never left the group stage in 2 previous editions. Serving as hosts and with the home crowds rallying behind them, they made it to the final, qualifying for the Women’s World Cup in the process. They may not have a great chance of advancing in this tournament, but they hope to channel the magic that their men’s team showed in the 2022 Men’s World Cup, and they hope to shock the entire world in the process.

FIFA Ranking: 72

Recent Record: Morocco is 2W-2D-2L in 2023. Their wins this year have been against Slovakia and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Odds of Winning: Extremely Slim

One to Watch: Rosella Ayane plays for Tottenham Hotspur on the club level, and he’s emerged as one of the players to watch for Morocco on the international level. Her club experience may help her level up in this tournament.

Colombia

Colombia brings a physical play to the Women’s World Cup, but their technical skill and the ability to create dazzling scoring chances is something to keep an eye on. Back in the Women’s World Cup after failing to qualifying in 2019, they hope to get out of the group with an eye on moving beyond the Round of 16 performance they had in Canada 2015. They have some creative stars in the making and they have some established veterans, but they’re also hoping to leave their prints on this group and to put themselves in a position where they can show their improvement as a team.

FIFA Ranking: 25

Recent Record: Colombia is 2W-2L-3D in 2023. Their wins have come against Nigeria and Panama. However, their most recent match against Ireland was abandoned shortly into the match for “overly physical” play in an effort to preserve the health of the players.

Odds of Winning: Slim

One to Watch: Linda Caicedo is 18 years old, plays for Real Madrid, and is ready to introduce herself to the world stage. She’s so dynamic and is the future of women’s soccer. Luckily for all of us, we’ll get to see the future right now in this tournament.

South Korea

South Korea enters this tournament hoping to improve off their 2019 performance, which saw them fail to make it out of the group. They’re always a team that gives opponents fits, because they play well together, they play with purpose, and they can battle with anyone. They test themselves constantly against some of the best competition, and they hope that experience will help them in this group to get to the knockout stage and make some noise.

FIFA Ranking: 17

Recent Record: South Korea is 3W-3L-0D in 2023. Their wins have come against Zambia (twice) and Haiti.

Odds of Winning: In the Running

One to Watch: Ji So-yun is a legend in her own right, and she’s going to be the one to help carry South Korea through the tournament. She has the ability to score quickly and confidently, and her ability on the ball and to find herself in open space is amazing.

Who will advance from Group H? What matches are most interesting to you? Let us know in the comments.